India’s Abhishek (second from left) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the hockey semifinal match against Pakistan at the Asian Games 2026, in Gifu on October 1, 2026.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The contrasting moods in the two dugouts told the complete story. The Pakistani players, grown, professional sportsmen, couldn’t stop crying their hearts out; they knew they had had a chance and it had slipped away. The Indians were ecstatic but the celebrations were muted; they knew, too, that they had managed to escape by the skin of their teeth.
Post the match, the Pakistan team rushed past, still teary-eyed and unwilling to talk to anyone. The Indians stopped, spoke and admitted to be happy and relieved in equal measure. “Both. First half was very good, in the second we made mistakes and they punished us. Pakistan is a good team and they will hit back if you make mistakes. The good thing is that we didn’t give up and stuck to our game plan till the end. We knew if we keep control, we have good strikers to convert chances,” Manpreet Singh admitted.
“Memorable, relieved,” Harmanpreet Singh said when asked to describe the game in two words. “There were a few mistakes and we will learn from them and come back stronger in the final,” he added.
Coach Craig Fulton was equally candid. “End of third quarter and start of 4th we lost a bit of our shape and it went down to the wire. We needed to get to the fourth and fifth goals after the first three, we missed a lot of chances. It was a difficult game. You cannot play the game you want, you have to play the game you have in front of you and I am glad we found a way out. Relieved but can’t be happy with being 3-0 up, going to 3-3 and then win 4-3.”
Published – October 01, 2026 08:54 pm IST
